Family Office Association

During our latest Family Office Association podcast, Scott Fifer made an observation that reframes how family offices should be thinking right now. The need is growing. The traditional funding mechanisms are contracting. Climate disruption. Political instability. The erosion of government safety nets. In that environment, the organizations best positioned to respond are not the large institutions with headquarters and overhead and slow procurement cycles. They are local leaders. Already present. Already trusted. Already working when the crisis arrives. The most adaptive philanthropic response right now is not retreating to familiar brand names. It is building relationships with the people closest to the problems. For family offices with the capital and the sophistication to do this well, 2026 is a strategic window. The question Scott leaves every family office with: Is your philanthropic strategy as sophisticated as your investment strategy? If you are still thinking about it, this conversation is worth your time. Watch the full podcast and read the article: https://lnkd.in/eMqVs6Rv #FamilyOffice #UHNW #StrategicPhilanthropy

Our recent Family Office Association podcast with Scott Fifer raised a point that reframes how family offices think about succession. NextGen donors are not interested in inheriting a donor-advised fund and writing checks to the same institutions their parents funded. They want to discover their own local heroes. They want to go on immersive trips. They want to see the work, not just fund it. They also ask questions that older generations often do not: Does our investment portfolio contradict our philanthropic values? This is the generation that will inherit your family's wealth, shape your family's legacy, and decide which advisors and platforms earn their trust. Building a philanthropic strategy they feel genuinely invested in is not just good giving practice. It is a succession strategy. How is your family office thinking about NextGen engagement in philanthropy? Full episode and article: https://lnkd.in/eMqVs6Rv #FamilyOffice #NextGen #UHNW

During our latest Family Office Association podcast, Scott Fifer laid out a framework that cuts through how most family offices think about charitable giving. Your philanthropic portfolio should be structured exactly like your investment portfolio. Diversify by geography, issue area, and organizational stage. Calibrate risk tolerance: some giving belongs in the equivalent of blue chips, some in earlier-stage bets with higher upside. Align your time horizon: education reform requires patient capital, crisis response does not. And engage actively, because the best investors never just write checks. Most family offices apply this level of discipline to every asset class except their charitable giving. The gap between those two strategies is where impact gets left on the table. Is your philanthropic strategy as sophisticated as your investment strategy? Watch the full episode and read the analysis: https://lnkd.in/eMqVs6Rv #FamilyOffice #UHNW #NextGen

In our recent Family Office Association podcast, Scott Fifer challenged one of the most common assumptions family offices hold about philanthropic risk. The belief that large nonprofits are safer than grassroots organizations has no data behind it. Large organizations carry more layers of bureaucracy, more overhead, and more places for money to disappear into administration. A small grassroots organization is often run by one person whose entire identity and community standing are on the line. They cannot afford a scandal. For family offices, the right question has never been "is this organization large enough to be safe?" The right question is: has someone done the work to verify it is trustworthy? That is a very different standard, and it changes which organizations deserve a seat in your philanthropic portfolio. What criteria does your family office actually use when evaluating a giving partner? Full conversation and blog analysis here: https://lnkd.in/eMqVs6Rv #FamilyOffice #UHNW #StrategicPhilanthropy

Most family offices have a sophisticated investment strategy and an unsophisticated philanthropic one. In a recent podcast conversation with Scott Fifer, founder of GO Campaign, we explored why that gap exists and what it costs in terms of both impact and NextGen engagement. The conversation covers: ● Why the fear of giving to smaller grassroots organizations is not supported by data ● How to build a philanthropic portfolio with the same rigor as an investment portfolio ● What NextGen donors are demanding, and why it matters for succession ● The practical due diligence process that makes local giving as safe as institutional giving ● How a 15-minute Zoom call changed a family office principal's life If you are evaluating your family's philanthropic strategy or looking for a framework that both you and the next generation can get behind, this is worth reading. Full article linked below.

Kim Rittberg asked a question in our Family Office Association podcast that reframed the whole conversation on thought leadership reach. "If you were in a room and 20 people were hanging on your every word, would you find that a win?" For most family office principals and UHNW individuals, 20 is not just enough. It may be exactly right. If those 20 people are co-investors, philanthropic partners, NextGen peers, or advisors you genuinely respect, that room has more strategic value than 20,000 passive followers who scroll past your content and move on. The obsession with follower count is leading a lot of smart people to either overextend themselves trying to build mass reach or avoid building any presence at all because the numbers feel unachievable. Neither helps. Reach is not the goal. Reaching the right people is. Who do you actually want in the room when you speak? That answer is your strategy. #FamilyOffice #UHNW #ThoughtLeadership